Chemistry

3. Old steel(4)

Yoon Jaegil turned his gaze to Jeong-woo and gestured for him to speak.

“Is the responsibility for managing the Han River Railroad Bridge with the city or with the railway construction company?”

“Why do you ask?”

“That picture over there.”

Jeong-woo pointed to a slide where a close-up image of a section of the Han River Bridge was shown.

“I’m curious about who would clean up if there was pigeon droppings. Is it the responsibility of the city or the railway company?”

Perhaps because the conversation was too non-technical, people in the conference room began to snicker.

Song Boyeong was startled and turned her head towards Jeong-woo. Jeong-woo raised his hand to signal for her to calm down.

Yoon Jaegil stared at the picture for a long time before lowering his head.

“Well… I don’t see any pigeon droppings.”

“They’re there.”

“Where?”

Jeong-woo watched as the imaginary orbits of various elements floating in the air converged to form a constellation that looked like a pigeon, and spoke.

“The molecules fluttering around… Ah, if you look at the part that has been scratched by a strong acidic substance, you can easily infer it. It’s pigeon droppings that have even penetrated the paint of Yujin Chemicals.”

Jeong-woo walked towards the screen and pointed to a specific spot. Finally, Yoon Jaegil, who had found a tiny trace the size of a fingernail in the corner of the screen, looked at Jeong-woo with a puzzled expression.

“How did you find that?”

“It’s chemical reasoning. I’m a chemist.”

In any case, Yang Jumugwan, who judged that Jeongwoo’s words were true, answered the initial question.

“It’s a part where the railroad passes through, so it’s managed by the railroad construction company. There are also many wires above that the general public cannot touch. The Seoul city only provides budget assistance. But why are you asking about this?”

“Well, unless it rains, the pigeon droppings over there cannot be cleaned up. Even if a strong protective coating is applied with paint, it cannot suppress the inherent nature of iron.”

“Inherent nature?”

“It has a passionate desire to combine with oxygen. Even zinc paint can’t separate it.”

Some people laughed at the fairy tale-like logic that spoke of elements as if they were living beings. Yoon Jaegil was among them.

“This young man has a good sense of humor.”

When Jeong-woo made a remark, subtly glancing at the Yujin Chemical paint, Yoon Jaegil couldn’t resist and took the microphone right away.

“Pigeon droppings? Can’t they just cover it up? And we paint three layers even anticipating the scratches that appear on the screen.”

“There are places where even three layers of paint are missing.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I saw it.”

Recalling the yellow-green ground he had seen on his way to work on the subway, Jeong-woo continued his statement.

“The part where the bolt is tightened. The place where the screw and the iron frame are joined. There is no paint at all.”

“Isn’t that a part that cannot be painted?”

“That’s right. That’s why there must be a hole in Yujin Chemical’s total management. Aren’t bolts part of the bridge structure?”

Yoon Jaegil snickered.

“We only investigated the rivets and bolts for two weeks. How can you know that when you haven’t even looked closely at the connection points?”

“I saw it passing by.”

“Liar.”

Jeong-woo felt frustrated looking at the opponent he couldn’t convince.

‘How can I explain this?’

Lost in thought, Jeong-woo’s gaze fell on Yoon Jaegil’s chin.

Is it because compounds that look like reality and constellations are mixed together that Jeong-woo was able to read what was written on Yoon Jaegil’s chin intuitively.

“You must have had a hangover yesterday.”

“What?”

Jeong-woo immediately responded to Yoon Jaegil’s gaze, which asked how he knew he had been drinking.

“There’s a little vomit on your chin.”

Yoon Jaegil, who was reflexively wiping his chin at the mention of being vomited on, looked incredulous.

“What are you talking about?”

“There are ethyl alcohol and non-sabinene compounds, so I figured it out. The scent feels quite luxurious. Did you drink expensive liquor?”

Yoon Jaegil glared at Jeong-woo, as if to tell him not to joke around.

“Are you kidding me?”

“It’s not a joke. Wait… there’s also citric acid and ascorbic acid mixed in. Oh, it’s bitter. Is the appetizer oranges? Lime? It’s a strong liquor with a fruit appetizer. It’s upsetting, really.”

Yoon Jaegil looked puzzled. Even if he had accidentally guessed that he had been drinking, it was impossible to accurately describe the ingredients.

It was a statement that could only be made because of his confidence in his chemical knowledge, which had a nuance of looking at molecules.

“Are you looking down on me?”

“Not at all. I’m worried.”

Yoon Jaegil snapped at Jeong-woo as if he was screaming, his anger rising.

“How did you know that?”

“Well, it’s similar to when I witnessed the site where the rainwater receiver fell on the Han River iron bridge this morning. Do you know that if two different types of metals are in contact for a long time, corrosion occurs at the contact area?”

“Am I supposed to not know about galvanic corrosion?”

“You know about it.”

“Isn’t that common sense?”

As the conversation continued, Yun Jae-gil’s logic began to subtly heat up, and he retorted slightly in response to Jeong-woo’s argument.

“So what? What can you prove with your story that a perfectly good bolt has rust on it?”

“Some of the bolts seemed to have a slightly different composition. It seemed to have a potential difference of about 0.1 volts, and it could last for ten years if it progresses slowly. However, if it’s exposed to strong winds, lightning, or rain….”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I’m not really cut out for humor, but it’s surprising. If I make a bad joke, my mother just throws the ladle she’s holding at me. I have scars from when I was hit by it when I was young.”

Jeong-woo lowered his head and showed the back of his head, causing Yun Jae-gil, who had been calm during the discussion, to turn red and purple.

“This son of a b****….”

When Yoon Jaegil, who had been relaxed all along, had an expression on the verge of swearing, Professor Kang on one side covered his mouth and laughed.

‘Is this enough?’

Jeong-woo confirmed the fading of the constellation in the molecular universe that had looked like a fantasy and said, “For now, that’s my opinion. Director, can I leave now?”

“Sure.”

Jeong-woo looked at Song Boyeong, who was looking at him with a worried expression, and their eyes met. She whispered, “What did you do?”

“Don’t worry. I just told the truth.”

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

As Jeong-woo left to took his seat, Song Boyeong’s tense expression eased and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Stop right there!”

But Yoon Jaegil, who thought they couldn’t lose like this, couldn’t stay still.

“You’re just going to say what you want and leave?”

“Come on, calm down and express your opinion,” the moderator said into the microphone, appealing for calm.

Jeong-woo gestured to Yoon Jaegil with his hand. “You don’t believe what I saw anyway, so I have nothing more to say.”

“Wait, do you have Mongolian eagle eyes or something? Where are you from anyway?”

“I’m Han Jeong-woo, an intern at KG Chemical.”

“What, what, an intern!” Yoon Jaegil exclaimed indignantly, feeling as though he had been made a fool of.

As Jeong-woo faced the intense reaction of the other person, he found himself unable to respond and kept his mouth shut. Even if he explained the situation accurately, there was no helping it if the other person couldn’t understand.

‘Communication is a two-way street.’

Anyway, it didn’t seem like the atmosphere was becoming one where Song Boyeong and KG Chemical were being ignored, so Jeong-woo was somewhat satisfied.

“Stop, stop!”

Director Yang raised his hand.

“Please refrain from speaking, Director Yoon. Would the representatives from Dongho Construction like to share their opinions?”

Since there was more than one public structure that needed improvement in Seoul, the seminar moved on to discussions about other regions.

When Jeong-woo returned, Bae Ki-tae spoke to him with a slightly frozen expression.

“Jeong-woo, do you know who that person is?”

“He’s the director of Yujin Chemical.”

“He’s a Ph.D. with a lot of influence in the society. Even if they’re competitors, there’s nothing good about having a bad relationship with him.”

“Really?”

Jeong-woo didn’t think it was a big deal since he didn’t have any grand goals of building up a network in the chemical industry. This made Bae Ki-tae even more incredulous as he shook his head.

Song Boyeong glanced at Jeong-woo before quickly turning her gaze to the people in the midst of the discussion.

The seminar held in the City Hall Annex ended at 2 p.m. as everyone packed up and left. The talk of the town was about the discussion between Yoon Jaegil and the KG Chemical intern that ended up with Yoon losing his temper.

“Mr. Parachute.”

Song Boyeong, carrying her bag, approached Jeong-woo.

“You followed me for this?”

“I didn’t follow you. It was the senior who brought me here.”

“Ah, I see.”

As Jeong-woo stood up, Song Boyeong looked up at him with a big smile.

“Earlier too. How is it that you look so much like Dr. Cheon? I envy you so much.”

“Really? Do I look that much like him?”

“Yes, you do. I’ve always wanted to learn that chemical talk.”

Jeong-woo felt like he had become someone who knew a lot about Cheon Seung-guk after hearing so much about him.

“I want to see him too.”

Song Boyeong hesitated for a moment, then looked away as if she was looking at a distant mountain.

“I’ll take note that you helped maintain KG Chemical’s status.”

Jeong-woo smiled at her ambivalent compliment.

“Damn it, embarrasing.”

Yoon Jaegil sighed deeply as he looked at the two people across from him who were laughing and chatting away.

KG Chemicals, the top domestic company that was like a thorn in the side of Yujin Chemicals, who was always ranked second by a very small margin. However, they were particularly unwilling to lose to any other company.

However, he showed a poor performance at today’s seminar. Moreover, it was in the area that can be regarded as the mainstay of Yujin Chemical’s compensation.

Sigh.

Yoon Jaegil, who was trying to calm his boiling insides, took out his cellphone from his pocket as it rang. It was his secretary calling.

“What’s up?”

-There’s been a fire, sir.

“What? Where?”

In response to Yoon Jaegil’s irritated question, the cautious voice of his secretary continued.

-Um… 20 minutes ago, there was another structure collapse accident at the Han River Bridge.

“What did you say?”

Yoon Jaegil was startled and stood up abruptly.

-There were no casualties, but two cars passing under the bridge were damaged and the drivers are injured.

“Damn it. We were so prepared for this…”

It was an incident that marred the Total Care System, Yujin Chemicals’ pride and joy.

“If this continues, we won’t have any room to talk about railway construction. We just received notice that they will be using our newly developed coating instead of our paint next year. Gather the safety inspection team right away!”

-We also received a strange message. A passenger who warned the Seoul Metro customer center about this situation this morning had the exact predicted location of the collapse.

“What does that mean? Predicting the location?”

-We have their contact information, but…

“Get their number right away and have the mobile research vehicle on standby.”

Yoon Jaegil immediately entered the number and pressed the call button.

The signal beeped and the other person answered the phone.

-Who’s this?

“Oh, excuse me. I’m Yoon Jaegil, the center director of Yujin Chemical.”

-What? Why?

“What? What do you mean ‘why’…?”

Jeong-woo approached Yoon Jaegil, who was holding his cellphone.

“So why did you call me?”

“Because you reported it this morning while crossing the Hangang Iron Bridge…”

Yoon Jaegil froze as he spoke into his cellphone.

“You!”

“Your personality is quite unique, Director Yoon. You’re right in front of me, but you didn’t come and talk to me directly. Although we may have had an awkward relationship at the seminar, this is a bit…”

At this moment, Yoon Jaegil felt like he was going crazy, thinking that everything that Jeong-woo, an intern from a rival company, had said at the seminar might be true.

“What’s going on? Why did you call me?”

With no sense of understanding, an accumulated resentment, and an unbelievable situation, Yoon Jaegil half-opened his mouth and looked at Jeong-woo.

“By the way, how did you get my number?”

Jeong-woo became puzzled by Yoon Jaegil’s silence.

“Mr. Parachute.”

Song Boyeong followed Jeong-woo.

“Why are you just standing there instead of leaving?”

“Director Yoon called me.”

Song Boyeong lowered her voice and asked.

“Phone call? To fight? Shall we fight together?”

“That’s not it, I don’t think… What? Why would you hit someone?”

“Well, it just seems he has a bad temper.”

“He can hear you.”

Yoon Jaegil, who had barely regained his composure, spoke to Jeong-woo.

“You said your name was Han Jeong-woo, right?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s talk for a moment.”